A top Russian military commander fired by President Vladimir Putin died suddenly on Christmas Day, adding to renewed questions about a long-running pattern of mysterious deaths and the Kremlin's ruthless methods of control.
British tabloid The Sun reported Friday that Ukrainian-born Col. Gen. Yuri Sadovenko, 56, who once served as a deputy defense minister, was found dead.
Russian state media attributed Sadovenko's cause of death to "heart disease" without further details.
There had been no prior reports that Sadovenko was seriously ill, a detail that has fueled skepticism given the steady number of unexplained fatalities involving senior Russian officials, oligarchs, generals, and propagandists since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Sadovenko had been closely tied to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, reportedly serving as Shoigu's trusted "gatekeeper."
Putin ousted Sadovenko in May 2024 during a sweeping shake-up that also removed Shoigu in what critics described as a purge designed to consolidate loyalty and scapegoat failures in the war against Ukraine.
Sadovenko had been sanctioned by Britain and other Western countries.
The general's personal life also reportedly became a Kremlin embarrassment.
The Sun reported that Sadovenko's wife, Maria Kitaeva, left him for another Shoigu ally, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov, in a scandal that rocked Russia's military establishment.
Ivanov was later fired and jailed amid corruption allegations, according to the report.
Sadovenko's death follows a grim cascade of high-profile fatalities.
The Sun cited recent deaths including Lt. Col. Stanislav "Spaniard" Orlov, 44, a commander linked to a notorious pro-Kremlin battalion that fought in Ukraine, and Lt.-Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, 56, who was reportedly killed in a Ukrainian car bombing.
Other senior figures have died after plunges from windows, sudden collapses, alleged suicides, and violent attacks — outcomes critics argue are too frequent to dismiss as coincidence.
The New York Post in October captured the dark irony in a blunt warning: Russian businessmen may want to reconsider standing too close to windows.
In its analysis, the Post said at least 38 prominent Russians have died under mysterious circumstances since the war began, with a notable number involving reported falls from windows or balconies.
Experts cited by the Post suggested the bizarre nature of some of these deaths appears designed to send a message — especially in a system where power, money, and survival depend on proximity to Putin and obedience to his demands.
A Euronews report earlier highlighted similar suspicious cases, including executive deaths by drowning, falls, or alleged "accidents," amid mounting speculation that internal Kremlin rivalries, corruption crackdowns, and intelligence-linked enforcement have intensified during wartime.
The atmosphere of fear deepened further after the death of Alexei Navalny, Putin's most prominent opposition leader, who died in a Russian prison in February 2024 — an event that drew international condemnation and reinforced Western claims that the Kremlin eliminates threats with impunity.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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